Fuqua Winery

Update: Fuqua Winery is no longer a winery and is now Duckworth Distillery

Fuqua Winery is located in Dallas and was opened in 2007 by owners Lee Foster and Julia Fuqua. Lee Fuqua is the primary winemaker making their Texas wine with Courtney Key also a winemaker and partner at the winery.

The small boutique winery was very easy to find and is located in a warehouse. As I walked in, Lee greeted me from the tasting bar to the left. Other customers were present at the other side of the tasting room. I was invited to stand at the tasting bar where I could do a tasting.

Lee poured his wines using a measured pourer. The winery uses ZORK closures instead of cork or screw caps. ZORK closures look like plastic caps where you pull a strip around the bottle to open it. They supposedly breathe the same as natural cork so the wines age at the same rate as with natural cork. They also can be used as a stopper for an unfinished bottle. That is of course if you’re storing it for the night as you are drinking it. Otherwise, you should use a wine vacuum pump to remove the air from the bottle for longer storage.

While tasting, I asked Lee what percentage of Texas grapes he used and his answer was about 10 percent. At the time of my visit, the winery only had two red wines available. Fuqua Winery uses French oak barrels for all their Texas wine as they believe French barrels give the best quality.

There must be something about Texas winemakers because Lee was very funny and I had an enjoyable time listening to his stories. This certainly wasn’t the first time I had a fun conversation with a winemaker.

Fuqua Winery has a small gift shop present in the tasting room. Private parties are encouraged and held at the winery in addition to wine classes to educate the public.

A wine club is available called the Q Society. In addition to shipments of wine, members also get discounts and access to pre-releases and VIP events.

Fuqua Winery is on the Dallas Wine Trail.